Brian Nelson

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending September 13

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending September 13. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Aberdeen Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (AEF): now $0.045 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.04. BIOQUAL (BIOQ): now $0.70 per share annual dividend, was $0.60. BRT Apartments (BRT): now $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.20. CNB Community Bancorp (CNBB): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Exantas Capital (XAN): now $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.225. First Farmers Financial (FFMR): now $0.31 per … Read more

Merck Shows Impressive Margin Expansion

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Image Source: Merck & Co Inc – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Pharmaceutical giant Merck (MRK) has performed well during the past few fiscal years by reducing operating costs while utilizing strong growth at some of its oncology drug offerings to drive sales higher. Shares of Merck yield 2.7% as of this writing and are trading at the upper half of our fair value estimate range after an impressive run up in Merck’s stock price began in April 2018. Management recently raised Merck’s full-year sales and non-GAAP EPS guidance for 2019, which we will cover in a moment. Enhancing Profitability Levels From 2016 to 2018, Merck cut its GAAP operating expenses from $35.1 billion to $33.6 billion (down over 4%) … Read more

Our Reports on Stocks in the Railroad Industry

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Image Source: Dan O’Brien Structure of the Railroads Industry The railroad industry operates at a significant competitive advantage relative to motor transportation in that it can charge lower rates for long-haul bulk shipments (coal, grain, rock). Still, participants face competition from other railroads that operate parallel routes, from motor carriers that provide similar services, and from barges in routes close to inland and Gulf Coast waterways. Operating a railroad is a capital-intensive proposition, and participants face cost pressures from both union labor and fuel. Pricing and volume trends in commodity categories can be quite volatile from year to year. We like the group. We’ve optimized our industrials coverage. Our reports can be found here.

Economic Roundtable: “Value” Versus “Growth” Rotation

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Tickerized for the DIA. “This kind of trading activity could be setting the stage for a big quant fund blow up, if the kind of leverage it takes to move the markets to this magnitude was applied. All it may take is for the B/M “value” factor to continue to suffer in the coming 12-18 months–it’s possible we could see a few quant firms go belly up. My guess is that market participants are paying very close attention to this activity, and if they “smell blood,” things could get ugly.” – Brian Nelson, CFA Earlier this week, the markets experienced significant internal “rotation,” as cyclicals and “value” stocks materially outperformed their defensive and “growth” counterparts, all the while the broader … Read more

Why We Like BIN Holding Visa So Much

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Image Source: Visa Inc – 2018 Annual Report By Callum Turcan One of our favorite holdings in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio is Visa (V), which has been included in the portfolio since November 2011 (see BIN transaction log here). Visa’s growth story is straightforward. The company is a secular growth play on the emergence of a global cashless society, one that is increasingly relying on debit and credit cards for most transactions. We think there’s still an enormous amount of room left to go on this front, especially in emerging and developing markets. We assign Visa a fair value estimate of $182/share (updated in the middle of August) and the top end of our fair value estimate range sits … Read more

Apple Makes Its Big Push Into Services

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Image Shown: Apple announced that Apple TV+ would launch November 1, 2019, during its big update event on September 10. This marks the beginning of Apple’s transition from a hardware and software company to a hardware, software, and services giant. By Callum Turcan On September 10, Apple Inc (AAPL) held its big hardware and software event but the real star of the show was services. Namely, Apple TV+ which will launch this upcoming November 1 at the relatively low price of just $4.99 per month. That’s below the starting price point offered by Apple’s (future) video streaming competitors including Netflix (NFLX), Walt Disney Company (DIS), and others. Apple is coming out swinging with star studded launches of its own exclusive … Read more

Consider This Blue Chip High Yield Dividend Play

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Image Shown: Shares of AT&T moved higher on September 9 after hedge fund manager Elliott Management, run by multibillionaire activist investor Paul Singer, disclosed a $3.2 billion stake in the firm. The hedge fund has big plans for AT&T and is pushing for changes at the telecommunications, media, and entertainment company. By Callum Turcan High Yield Dividend Newsletter holding AT&T (T) was back in the news this Monday (September 9) as activist investor Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Management, announced that the hedge fund manager had acquired a $3.2 billion stake in the company. Through a four-point plan, dubbed “the Activating AT&T Plan” according to the letter Elliott Management sent AT&T pushing for change, Elliot Management thinks shares of T … Read more

DGN Holding Realty Income Continues Moving Higher

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Image Shown: Shares of Realty Income Corporation (O) have been on an upward tear this year as excitement over a lower interest rate environment, courtesy of the Federal Reserve, is driving up interest in real estate investment trusts. By Callum Turcan A holding in our Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio, Realty Income Corporation (O) invests in single-tenant properties both domestically and now abroad after expanding overseas for the first time earlier this year. The REIT pays out a monthly dividend and has done so for 590 consecutive months (as of early-September 2019), pushing through 102 payout increases since going public in 1994. Shares of the REIT yield 3.6% as of this writing. We like Realty Income’s “A” rated credit ratings (A3/A-), … Read more

Shares of DGN Holding Digital Realty Climbing Upwards

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Image Source: Digital Realty Trust Inc – IR Presentation By Callum Turcan One of our favorite holdings in the Dividend Growth Newsletter is Digital Realty Trust (DLR), a data center REIT whose shares yield 3.4% as of this writing. Digital Realty expects to generate $6.60-$6.70 per share in core FFO this year, up 5% at the midpoint when excluding a new lease accounting standard and foreign currency headwinds. Please note that due to those two factors and pressure from rental renewals (DLR had a lot of leases expire in 2019 and some of the new leases were signed at modestly lower rates), Digital Realty’s reported core FFO ($6.65/share at the midpoint of guidance) in 2019 will only grow marginally from … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending September 6

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Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending September 6. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Trust (FINS): now $0.1181 per share monthly dividend, was $0.1171. Brady (BRC): now $0.2175 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2125. DMC Global (BOOM): now $0.125 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.02. Eaton Vance Floating Rate Income Trust (EFT): now $0.0770 per share monthly dividend, was $0.0760. Eaton Vance Senior Floating-Rate Fund (EFR): now $0.0770 per share monthly dividend, was $0.0760. Eaton … Read more